Market participants in Asia were taken by surprise this week after price upticks in the bellwether Turkish scrap import market followed the United States' decision to once again double its tariffs on Turkish steel.
As a result, Taiwanese buyers have had to pay higher prices for imported containerized cargoes on the back of limited supplies from the US West Coast.However, Vietnamese buyers are still concentrating on Japanese H2 material, and not looking to book any deep-sea cargoes. VietnamFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for bulk shipments of steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam, was unchanged at $250 per tonne cfr on Friday October 18.There were no offers for bulk deep-sea HMS 1&2 (80:20) cargoes heard in the market and sources said US West Coast sellers were not looking to sell."The market has been very quiet this week. Local buyers know that prices in Turkey have increased, but they are still aiming for stable prices," a Vietnamese trader told Fastmarkets on Friday October 18.One transaction was...